Apparatus for wet treating textile fabrics

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for wet treating webs of textile material in which the web is passed over and below staggered rollers in a trough adapted to receive treating liquid into which at least some rollers are at least partially immersed while the web material leaving the last roller is wound onto a perforated drum which latter is, relatively to said last roller, pressed against the latter at a substantially uniform pressure during the winding-up operation, said drum being arranged in a housing adapted selectively to be closed completely for independent wet treatment of material on the perforated drum.

Tlnited States Patent Schififier [151 AMAA'M [54] APPARATUS FOR WETTREATING TEXTILE FABRICS [72] Inventor: Gunter Schiller, Krefeld,Germany [73] Assignee: Joli. Kleinwelers Sohne, Krefeld, Germany [22]Filed: Sept. 21, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 73,763

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 22, 1969 Germany ..P 19 47858.1

[52] US. Cl. ..68/8, 68/22 R, 68/43, 68/ 180 [51] lint. (ll ..]B05c 8/02[58] FieldolfSeai-ch ..68/180,7, 8, 22 R, 43,5C; 8/149.l

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,357,212 12/1967 Schif fe rII... ..68/8

3,402,577 9/1968 Blount et al ..68/5 C FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS463,640 8/1928 Germany ..68/7 1,107,035 3/1968 GreatBritain ..68/l80Primary ExaminerWilliam 1. Price Attorney-Walter Becker [57] ABSTRACT Anapparatus for wet treating webs of textile material in which the web ispassed over and below staggered rollers in a trough adapted to receivetreating liquid into which at least some rollers are at least partiallyimmersed while the web material leaving the last roller is wound onto aperforated drum which latter is, relatively to said last roller, pressedagainst the latter at a substantially uniform pressure during thewinding-up operation, said drum being arranged in a housing adaptedselectively to be closed completely for independent wet treatment ofmaterial on the perforated drum.

8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures APPARATUS lFOR WET TREATING TEXTILEFAlBlRlICS The present invention relates to an apparatus for wettreating textile fabrics, especially for mercerizing and, if desired,for boiling and bleaching, with wide web guiding means.

Smaller and medium quantities of textile webs are customarily mercerizedon padding machines or jiggers. In this connection, the fabric isimpregnated, with or without maintaining a fixed cloth guidance withcaustic soda solution and is wound under tension onto a drum in such away that the fixed cloth guidance will not be lost during the winding-upoperation and that the fabric will undergo a minimum of shrinkage. Afterthe required staying time, the impregnating liquid absorbed by thefabric is removed from the goods by alternately winding the goods ontothe pressing roller or drum while simultaneously spraying water.

The above-mentioned method has the drawback that in view of thecontinuous winding-on and winding-off of the goods a shrinking in thewidth occurs. The washing-out of the caustic soda solution from thegoods is difficult in view of the fixed cloth guidance, and the reactiontime of the impregnating liquid with the fabric from the beginning ofthe fabric web to the end thereof is rather nonuniform. The situationbecomes even more unfavorable due to the fact that the washing-out ofthe impregnating medium starts at the end of the woundup impregnatedfabric web where the impregnating medium has the shortest staying time.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus which will make possible the wet treating of textile fabricwebs being guided over a considerable width, especially the mercerizingand, if necessary, the boiling and bleaching of small or mediumquantities of textile fabrics, which apparatus will avoid above all thedisadvantageous shrinking as to width of the fabric web during theimpregnating operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus as setforth in the preceding paragraph, which will permit to carry out aplurality of treatments in varying sequences.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear moreclearly from the following specification in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a side view of the apparatusaccording to the invention.

FIG. 2 represents a diagrammatic side view of a modified apparatusaccording to the invention.

The apparatus according to the present invention is characterizedprimarily by an impregnating device which comprises a set of rollerspressed against each other over which the fabric is being passed in afixed cloth guiding way while being steeped into an impregnating liquidor while impregnating liquid is sprayed thereon. The apparatus isfurthermore characterized by a drum for winding-up the impregnatedfabric which drum engages the last roller of the impregnating device ata uniform pressure. In the impregnating device of the apparatusaccording to the invention, the fabric is guided in fixed cloth guidingmeans and is simultaneously impregnated. The transfer of the impregnatedfabric to a drum is likewise effected with a fixed cloth guiding meansinasmuch as the last roller of the impregnating device is pressedagainst the mantle surface of the skein or hank being formed. In thisconnection there is provided the possibility, while maintaining thepressure, to increase the distance between the mantle surface of theskein and the last roller of the impregnating device to the extent towhich the fabric is wound onto the skein. After the fabric permeatedwith the impregnating liquid in the impregnating device has beencompletely wound onto the drum, it is bandaged and the fabric thus woundonto the drum is subjected to a further treatment as, for instance,washing, boiling, or bleaching.

According to a further advantageous development of the apparatusaccording to the invention, the rollers in the impregnating device maybe offset with regard to each other as to height. In this way theguiding of the goods to be impregnated can be improved. Furthermore, asa result thereof the possibility is obtained, according to a furtherdevelopment of the invention, to cause at least some rollers and thefabric web passed thereover partially to rotate in the impregnatingliquid contained in a trough. The respective lower rollers of theimpregnating device rotate with a portion of their circumference andwith the fabric web passed thereover in the impregnating liquid in thetrough whereby the fabric web absorbs impregnating liquid. Additionally,impregnating liquid may by means of nozzles be sprayed onto the fabricweb moving over the rollers. However, it is also possible to permeatethe fabric web passed over the rollers only by spraying devices whichshould be arranged at both sides of the fabric web in order to bringabout a uniform permeation or soaking of the fabric web.

According to a further advantageous development of the apparatusaccording to the invention, the winding-up drum may be formed by aperforated drum. This permits the washing of the woundup impregnatedfabric web by introducing washing liquid through the interior of thedrum and through the woundup fabric web on said drum toward the outside.Such an arrangement has over the treatment on known padding machines orjiggers the advantage that those fabric sections are washed first whichhave been impregnated first and have been wound onto the drum firstwhereby the staying time of the impregnating liquid in the fabric ispractically equalized. The perforated drum having the fabric woundthereon may furthermore be arranged in a chamber adapted to be closed inwhich, following the complete winding-up of the impregnated web offabric and the removal of the im pregnating device, the washing and,if-desired, the boiling and bleaching may be carried out while the drumis rotating. In this instance the impregnating device may through anopening in the chamber be moved toward the drum until the impregnatedweb of fabric has been completely wound onto the drum. After theimpregnating device has been removed, the opening of the chamber isclosed and the treatment of the impregnated goods is continued.

In order effectively to prevent a shrinkage as to width of the treatedweb, it is necessary not only to press the rollers of the impregnatingdevice against each other but also the last roller of the impregnatingdevice must be pressed against the skein or against the drum onto whichthe impregnated web has been wound. This may be effected according tothe invention in two ways. One possibility consists in that theimpregnating device is displaceable or movable while the drum isstationarily arranged and while by mechanical, hydraulic or pneumaticmeans the impregnating device and, more specifically, its last roller ispressed against the skein or against the drum. The pressing device mustbe so designed that the pressure between the last roller of theimpregnating device and the skein or the drum will remain the same whilethe distance between both is variable in conformity with the increasingdiameter of the skein. Thus, the impregnating device must be held undera yieldable but uniform pressure against the skein or the drum.

According to another embodiment of the apparatus accord ing to theinvention, the impregnating device may be displaceable but must be keptstationary during the impregnating and winding operation while the drumor the skein is displaceably arranged and the drum or the skein is byits own weight or by additional pressing means or relief means pressedagainst the last roller of the impregnating device. For this purpose anarrangement is suggested according to which the im pregnating device hasits last roller in the lower region engage the mantle surface of theskein or drum while the skein or the drum is adjustable as to height sothat at the start of the winding-up operation the skein or the drumwill, due to its own weight or with the aid of additional pressingmeans, be pressed along a mantle line against the last roller of theimpregnating device and will during the winding-up operation be able tomove relative to the last roller of the impregnating device to theextent to which fabric is wound thereon.

According to still another development of the invention, a stretchingframe may be arranged in front of the impregnating device from which thefabric web stretched as to width is introduced into the impregnatingdevice.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the web of goods 1 passes froma skein 2, if desired over a stretching frame 3, into the impregnatingdevice 4. This impregnating device comprises a set of rollers 5 whichare pressed against each other along a mantle line and which, as shownin FIG. 1, may be offset or staggered relative to each other as toheight. The web 1 is passed over rollers 5 along a fixed guiding pathwhereby the shrinkage as to width during the permeation with liquid canbe effectively prevented. The lower rollers 5 at the impregnatingstation 4 may entirely or partially rotate in a container or trough 6and may immerse in the liquid 7 in trough 6 which liquid may representthe impregnating liquid. The rollers may immerse into said liquidentirely or only partially. The web 1 passing over the rollers 5immersed in the liquid 7 absorbs liquid and can additionally or insteadbe soaked on its other side by means of spraying devices 8.

The last roller 9 of the impregnating device 4 is along a mantle linepressed against a drum 10 upon which the web 1 is wound after effectedimpregnation. The roller 9 may be pressed against the drum 10pneumatically, hydraulically or mechanically by means of a device 11which may engage the displaceable or movable trough 6. When the rollers5 and 9 of the impregnating device 4 do not rotate in a liquid-filledtrough 6, but instead the web 1 is soaked with liquid only by means ofspraying devices 8, the rollers 5 and 6 may be journaled in a standwhich may be displaceable or movable and which in such an instance isengaged by the pressing device 11.

The pressing device 11 must be so designed that while maintaining auniform pressure between rollers 9 and drum 10, an increase in thedistance between said rollers 9 and drum 10 will be possible to such anextent as the diameter of the drum with the impregnated fabric thereonincreases due to the winding-up operation.

Preferably, drum 10 may be perforated and may be provided with means forpermitting steam or liquid to escape from the interior through thewound-up fabric web toward the outside. The impregnated web I wound ontothe drum 10 may after completion of the winding-up operation immediatelybe subjected to further treatments, for instance, to a washingoperation. To this end, it is suggested that the drum 10 be arrangedwithin a chamber 12 adapted to be closed into which chamber theimpregnating device 10 may be inserted during the winding-up of theweb 1. After the web 1 has been completely wound upon the drum 10, theimpregnating device 4 is moved out of chamber 12 and chamber 12 isclosed, for instance, by means of a foldable door 13. Subsequently, thevapor or liquid medium provided for the next following treatment step isintroduced, for instance, through the hollow shaft of drum 10 into theinterior of the latter and is through its perforated outer wall pressedthrough the woundup fabric 1. The impregnating liquid absorbed at theimpregnating station 4 may now be washed out. Subsequently, a boiling(scalding) and/or bleaching of the fabric may be effected. The sequenceof the above outlined method steps may, however, also be varied in anyconvenient manner.

FIG. 2 shows a modified device according to the present invention whichdiffers from that of FIG. 1 merely in the manner in which the pressurebetween the last roller and the impregnating device 4 and the drum 10 iseffected. The drum 10 which expediently is again arranged in a chamber12 is movably journaled for movement in upward and downward direction asindicated by the double arrow 14. The impregnating device 4 has its lastroller 9 at the lower section of the drum pressed against thecircumferential surface of drum 10. This pressure between drum 10 androller 9 is brought about by pressing the drum 10 which is displaceablein vertical direction by its own weight against the surface of roller 9of the impregnating device 4. This pressure may, if desired, be furtherincreased by a pressing device acting upon drum 10. During thewinding-up operation, the impregnating device 4 is held stationary butotherwise is longitudinally displaceable similar to the arrangement ofFIG. 1. In view of the displaceable mounting of drum 10, there isobtained the possibility of increasing the spacing between drum 10 androller 9 with increasing windings on drum 10 while the same pressure ismaintained.

After the drum has been filled with the web and the impregnating device4 is moved out ofthe chamber 12, chamber 12 can again be closed and thetreatment of the wound-up fabric 1 may be continued while drum 10 isrotated.

The fixed guiding path provided in the impregnating device over rollers5 and 9 in conformity with the invention is known per se for the wettreatment of webs. Also the arrangement of a rotating perforated drum ina closed chamber is known, for instance, in connection with bleachingoperations. Therefore, within the frame work of the present inventiononly the combination of both portions of the device according to theinvention is claimed as novel inasmuch as it is highly advantageous forvarious wet treatments of small and medium quantities of textile fabricsand represents an advance in the art over heretofore known devices usedfor similar purposes.

It is furthermore to be noted that the device according to the presentinvention is not limited to mercerizing but is also advantageous forboiling and bleaching and other wet treatments in any desired sequenceof the individual treatment steps.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by nomeans, limited to the particular showing in the drawing but alsocomprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for wet treating webs of textile material, whichincludes: impregnating means for impregnating the web to be wet treated,said impregnating means comprising a plurality of rollers togetherdefining a path for the web to be treated and adapted to receivetherebetween the web to be treated while exerting a firm pressurethereon, one of said rollers forming the web discharging roller fordischarging the impregnated web from said impregnating means, aperforated winding-up drum arranged adjacent said discharging roller forreceiving the wet treated web from said discharging roller and windingup said web, and means operable to press said discharging roller andsaid drum relative toward each other at a substantially uniform pressureto thereby exert a substantially uniform pressure on the web materialpassing between said drum and said discharging roller.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said rollers are locatedin staggered arrangement with the axes of rotation of said rollerslocated in different substantially parallel planes.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said impregnating meansincludes trough means adapted to receive an impregnating liquid, and inwhich at least some of said rollers are extending at least partiallyinto said trough means.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said perforatedwinding-up drum includes sections telescopically arranged one within theother for selectively adjusting the width of said drum so that only thatperforated portion of said drum is active which corresponds to the widthof the respective web being wound thereupon.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, which includes housing meanshaving said drum arranged therein and adapted to receive fluid forpassing the same through the material on said drum from the insidethereof to the outside of said housing means, said housing meansincluding means for selectively completely closing and opening saidhousing means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said impregnating meansis displaceable and which includes means yieldably and at uniformpressure holding said discharging roller against woundup material onsaid perforated drum.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said perforated drum isvertically displaceable, and in which said impregnating means isselectively movable and arrestable below said perforated drum so thatthe latter has its vertical axis in substantial alignment with thevertical axis of said discharging roller.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, which includes a stretchingmechanism arranged in from of said impregnating means. 5

1. An apparatus for wet treating webs of textile material, whichincludes: impregnating means for impregnating the web to be wet treated,said impregnating means comprising a plurality of rollers togetherdefining a path for the web to be treated and adapted to receivetherebetween the web to be treated while exerting a firm pressurethereon, one of said rollers forming the web discharging roller fordischarging the impregnated web from said impregnating means, aperforated winding-up drum arrangeD adjacent said discharging roller forreceiving the wet treated web from said discharging roller and windingup said web, and means operable to press said discharging roller andsaid drum relative toward each other at a substantially uniform pressureto thereby exert a substantially uniform pressure on the web materialpassing between said drum and said discharging roller.
 2. An apparatusaccording to claim 1, in which said rollers are located in staggeredarrangement with the axes of rotation of said rollers located indifferent substantially parallel planes.
 3. An apparatus according toclaim 1, in which said impregnating means includes trough means adaptedto receive an impregnating liquid, and in which at least some of saidrollers are extending at least partially into said trough means.
 4. Anapparatus according to claim 1, in which said perforated winding-up drumincludes sections telescopically arranged one within the other forselectively adjusting the width of said drum so that only thatperforated portion of said drum is active which corresponds to the widthof the respective web being wound thereupon.
 5. An apparatus accordingto claim 1, which includes housing means having said drum arrangedtherein and adapted to receive fluid for passing the same through thematerial on said drum from the inside thereof to the outside of saidhousing means, said housing means including means for selectivelycompletely closing and opening said housing means.
 6. An apparatusaccording to claim 1, in which said impregnating means is displaceableand which includes means yieldably and at uniform pressure holding saiddischarging roller against woundup material on said perforated drum. 7.An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said perforated drum isvertically displaceable, and in which said impregnating means isselectively movable and arrestable below said perforated drum so thatthe latter has its vertical axis in substantial alignment with thevertical axis of said discharging roller.
 8. An apparatus according toclaim 1, which includes a stretching mechanism arranged in front of saidimpregnating means.